2017 NIFF HOUSTON PRESS RELEASE

NIFF 2017 VENUES AND LINE-UP ANNOUNCED

Houston, Texas – Oct, 2017 – Next International Film Festival (NiFF), presented by Next Actor Studio, will hold its 3rd edition on October 25 – October 28, 2017 in Houston. HOUSTON STRONG being the theme of this year's Niff, following the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey, the 2017 Festival will open on Wednesday, Oct 25 at the Alamo Drafthouse, Mason Park (Katy, Texas) with the 13 minutes documentary Gold Line, from writer-director Lance Childers of Houston and the 90 minutes comedy A Curry on An American Plate, shot in Houston by director San Banarje with actors Rick Fox (NBA Champion, OWN's GreenLeaf), Charlie O'Connell (The Bachelor), Andrea Guasch (Submergence, High School Musical) and several Houston actors. Complimentary passes for Press, filmmaker and Next Actor Studio's Stanislavski students can be picked up at the booth that will be set up inside the theatre.

On Thursday, Oct 26, the short film Dream Girl, produced by Houston native Alex Cadena with her film production team at Yale University will screen at Match Midtown Theatres, followed by several other shorts, a feature film from Los Angeles and the documentary Rock Bottom and Back, produced by a Houston production company based on the book by New York Times Bestseller Susan D. Mustafa and starring Danny Trejo (Machete). All the filmmakers will be in attendance to have a dialogue with the audience.

On Friday, Oct. 27, Ryan Phillippe and Noah Schnapp starring short 'The Circle', written by Matt Olmstead (Prison Break, NYPD Blue), directed by Sheldon Schwartz (Levis) and shot by Oscar winner Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) opens the short film segments to be followed by 100 minutes of shorts from Shanghai, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities and Q and A with their makers.

On Saturday, Oct. 28, Houston SPCA-assisted rescue operation of 72 Irish wolfhounds from Galveston County (Santa Fe, Texas) is the theme of the documentary Texas 72. It will be followed by the closing afternoon feature film Solver from New York that's appropriate for children.

Awards event will be held on October 28 (Saturday) evening with music, dinner and cocktail.

For all inquiries, please send an email to info@Niffhouston.org or to events coordinator Monica Mansy at monica.mansy@niffhouston.org

THIRD ANNUAL NIFF HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2017 DATES, OCTOBER 25 - OCTOBER 28

Houston, Texas – Jan 3, 2017 – Next International Film Festival (NiFF), presented by Next Actor Studio, will hold its 3rd edition on October 25 – October 28, 2017 in Houston. The Festival will have its creative hub at Rice Village venue of Next Actor Studio with screenings of films at River Oaks Theatre and Next Actor Screening Room.

In its inaugural event in 2015 and the second edition in 2016, Niff Houston was able to put together a great lineup of independent and foreign films and brought together actors, directors and producers from different parts of the world, who stayed back in Houston to enjoy the awards show at the end of the festival.

Award winners who could not make it to Houston, sent in their acceptance speech by video. The videos by best actor Dominique Pinon (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement) and best actress Laya Lewis (Skins) are online for viewing.

After entertaining the audience at Niff2015's opening night short film Narcissist, lead actor Brionne Davis went on to excel at Cannes, Sundance and other major venues with his starring role in the 2016 Oscar-nominated Colombian film Embrace of the Serpent.

In 2016, selected filmmakers from Houston were joined by their counterparts who traveled all the way from London, New York, Alaska, Austin, Michigan, Los Angeles, Mexico and other places to present their labor of love and engage in dialogue with an involved and entertained audience.

With the jump in the number of submissions in second year and the extremely intellectual quality of cinema that was screened, it is quite obvious that Niff Houston is a festival of substance, that thrives to showcase ingenious talent and celebrate depth in content through a phenomenal line-up of Independent American Cinema and diverse foreign films in both competitive and non-competitive sections.

Submission for 2017 opens on Jan 4. The first meet and greet for representatives of selected films, press and NiFF team members will take place in April by invitation.